"Disposable Spirit"Lauren McMurray

Photographic images of people are often surrounded by the cultural belief that light and shadow can capture the spirit. Now that digital cameras are used almost exclusively, is the human spirit in these photographs distorted as the image is reduced to code and compressed? Does the ease and accessibility of digital imaging affect the significance of the moment captured?

I want to open a dialogue with the community about the effect digital representation has on the human identity. In a society where we are becoming increasingly involved in digitally representing ourselves through the Internet, I want to explore the distortion, preservation, and disposable culture associated with digital media.

My main concern is the loss of identity resulting from the disposability of digital material versus tangible material, and the distortions that result from replication.

Through collaborative events, the artist and community will explore ideas and techniques to articulate their views on the effect digital representation has on human identity.

Disposable Spirit will deal with themes such as the emotional attachment people form with objects, and the detachment we feel toward digital media or mass-produced objects.

The work will be an interactive process consisting of mixed media, photography and audiovisual recordings that explore the emotional reactions of the participants as they interact with and destroy traditional media, like photographs.

The participants will also be asked to experience the visceral impact of becoming a disposable object, which will allow them to explore the physical and emotional reaction to throwing their own identity and spirit away, symbolizing the ease by which we destroy and replicate digital material.

The result of this project will be an effort to continue a dialogue on disposable identity, and to research the effects of digital representation in contemporary culture. Through the process of capturing these interactions, the artist and the community can become more aware of the emotional and spiritual relationships we communicate with one another.